


Ever on

by MulaSaWala



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bilbo Baggins Dies In Battle of Five Armies, I swear, M/M, Thorin Oakenshield Lives, but then he dies too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:48:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28005654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MulaSaWala/pseuds/MulaSaWala
Summary: Plain pine box is the normal standard. Transport of any remains, in whole or in part, back to the country of Burglar’s origin is not included.———In which Bilbo dies, but that's not the end.
Relationships: Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield, Frodo Baggins & Thorin Oakenshield
Comments: 27
Kudos: 142





	Ever on

**Author's Note:**

  * For [The bagginshield discord](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=The+bagginshield+discord).



> Basically, I wrote this in like, two hours so i can yeet it into the void of AO3.

Looking at the still form, Thorin feels like he cannot breath. They consider sending him back to the Shire, to be laid to rest in his beloved green hills, but it is wishful thinking that the bo- that Bilbo would survive the journey back.

( _Plain pine box is the normal standard. Transport of any remains, in whole or in part, back to the country of Burglar’s origin is not included._ )

So the newly crowned King Under the Mountain is grateful for one last chance to be the selfish wretch that he is, at least where his hobbit is concerned, and buries Bilbo in the Lonely Mountain. He is laid to rest beneath the stone, in the manner of dwarrow, though Thorin crafts him flowers at first, and then grows them when the mountain finally permits it. He thinks he understands Bilbo better now, as he grows his modest garden, an unusual occupation for a dwarf, but Thorin is nothing if not persistent ("More stubborn than a mule, and twice as ornery," as Bilbo liked to say), and the green things flourish under his careful hand.

* * *

Above the throne, in place of the Arkenstone, is a plaque of elegant, almost elvish design. It is made of pure mithril, the most valuable of metals, but despite that there is a humility in its clean lines and simple form that the First Born nor Durin's Folk never quite manage.

_"Where there is life, there is hope,"_ the plaque announces to all. Bilbo had no sons to pass on the wisdom of his father, but Thorin thinks he has learned much from the hobbit, and that will have to suffice. For the rest of his days, he would remember that if more people valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.

* * *

There is nothing in the look of the hobbit that stands before Thorin that should remind the dwarf king of Bilbo. His hair is a dark mess of curls, not a shade of brown that turns golden under sunlight. His skin is fairer, and his eyes are blue. There is a cleft in his chin when Bilbo had none.

But there is something there that _does_ , and it is more than the name Baggins. This young hobbit has travelled all the way from the Shire to meet the Dwarf King that saved his parents from drowning many years ago, and Thorin should greet him, and send him home for good, but he knows he will not. That the hobbit will be free to stay, to come and go as he pleases to the Kingdom Under the Mountain.

The lad is quick-witted, and kind, and though it still makes Thorin ache inside, he has many stories about his Uncle Bilbo to tell Thorin, who had been a favorite cousin of his father, and a good friend of his mother besides. Frodo, of course, has heard the story of Bilbo's adventure from the other Hobbits in the Shire, as a _cautionary_ tale, and it is with wide eyes and a bright grin that he listens to the story from the other end: the Story of Bilbo the Renowned, as told by the dwarrow whose home he'd helped reclaim.

It is to him that Thorin finally gives the things Bilbo had left behind. It is missing a few items. The acorn has long since been planted, and the Laketown handkerchief lives its life in Thorin's breast pocket, but the remainder, Thorin is finally ready to part with, to the hobbit that has become as dear to him as his own sister-sons. Frodo receives, on his 33rd birthday, a coat of Mithril, a sword named Sting, and a little golden ring.

* * *

An army from the Black Enemy in the East stands at the foot of the Lonely Mountain. This, Thorin knew, had been a long time coming. A darkness had grown in the land, and although Gandalf was inscrutable about many things, this had not been one of them.

"Give us the Baggins," its commander hisses, and Thorin wants to say that he has none to give.

Instead, he says he will not, as if either of the Bagginses that held his heart still lived in the Lonely Mountain, and he could produce them if he were so persuaded.

It draws the ire and attention of the the Sleepless Malice, as was Thorin's intent. Erebor was a fortress that the armies of Sauron would break upon like water before stone. Let them come, all of them, and Thorin only hoped it would aid Frodo in some small way as he made is own perilous journey, not to a dragon, but to a mountain of fire.

* * *

When Thorin awakes, he knows he is in the Halls of Mandos. His last memory is of battle, and he hopes it was enough. Fili was ready to be king, had been ready for a long time, and Thorin is confident he and his brother will protect each other, will survive the war, and that Durin's Folk will continue to flourish under new rule.

The now-former King Under the Mountain takes a moment as he gazes up at the high stone arches on the ceiling of the Halls. He lived a good life, he thinks. Under his reign, though the Treasury dwindled some, he was repaid tenfold by the contentment of his people, and by the happiness of his family. Both Fili and Kili had found love and produced heirs that Thorin had dandled on his knees, as had many other members of his Company.

"Well, you certainly took your time."

* * *

Thorin had made his peace a long time ago with the fact that Bilbo had died thinking Thorin was angry him, that the hobbit in return had no fond feelings for him, and that the child of the kindly west regretted regretted his decision to go on a mad quest to save a kingdom he had never seen.

"You never told me you had a brother, Thorin, I quite like him, despite the fact the he insists upon being underfoot all the time. It seems Fili and Kili come by their mischievousness quite honestly through the line of Durin."

"Bilbo," Thorin gasps, like he can't believe that the hobbit is by his side. He knows tears are beginning to gather in his eyes, but he cannot seem to stop them. 

"Before you say anything, I'd like to remind you that I _do_ speak to other dwarves that come here. The _stories_ they tell about you! Well," here Bilbo looks away, his own eyes suspiciously bright.

"I'm glad you took your time, and I'm glad you're here now,"

* * *

Thorin had been welcomed to the Halls by his kin with open arms. His mother and father, and his grandfather, all proud of what he had accomplished. But that had been awhile ago, and though a feast was being held in his honor, for it was not every day that another joined the ranks of the Kings Under the Mountain, he had been stolen away by his burglar, the only hobbit Thorin sees in the Halls.

There is so much to do after you're dead, Thorin has found. Bilbo, though he loved Yavanna's Pastures, had wanted to see mountains again, after so many years in the Green Lady's garden.

"Mountains, Thorin, _mountains,_ " he says, and Thorin knows he smiling like a fool, but he cannot seem to stop.

* * *

When Frodo arrives on the shores of Valinor, his lagging spirits are lifted by a familiar face amongst the elves who are awaiting the arrival of their own kin.

"Uncle Thorin!" he cries, running and throwing himself into the arms of a the dwarf who had never stopped being able to lift him up as if he were a wee faunt.

Already, the heaviness in his heart is lessened, and he greets the hobbit beside them with confidence.

"And you must be Uncle Bilbo, I'm so pleased to meet you,"

**Author's Note:**

> And they lived happily ever after to the end of their days.


End file.
